The market for antimicrobial doorknobs, hospital fixtures and other products that kill germs on contact may be about to take on a coppery sheen.

The Copper Development Association, a trade group for copper companies, said Tuesday that federal regulators had approved its application to market a group of copper alloys, including brass and bronze, as capable of killing bacteria and microbes effectively enough to protect human health.

Copper ions can penetrate the cell walls of microbes and can disrupt reproduction and other cell functions.

The approval is the first time that the Environmental Protection Agency has allowed health claims to be attached to a solid antimicrobial material rather than a liquid or aerosol disinfectant. The agency regulates antimicrobials not applied directly to the body under the laws intended to control agricultural pesticides.

How widely the copper products will penetrate the multibillion-dollar market for antimicrobial products remains unclear. Copper is a relatively soft, easily tarnished metal that may not be suitable for many applications.

Researchers who worked on the concept expect hospitals and other public institutions to be the initial market for the product, based on the approvals gained by the trade group. The tests showed 99.9 percent kill rates within two hours against the leading antibiotic-resistant bacteria now plaguing hospitals, said Harold T. Michels, senior vice president for technology and technical services at the trade group.

This is very, very solid data, said Mr. Michels, who said that the tests involved more than 3,000 samples and included a requirement to reinfect a surface eight times in a single 24-hour period to prove the results were durable. Mr. Michels said clinical trials were under way to test how copper bed rails, arm rests and other hospital fixtures can reduce the numbers of bacteria in hospitals.

Actually silver does have medicinal properties, silver is now used on surgical instruments for it’s antibiotic and anti bacterial qualities. Egyptians and Greeks purified their drinking water by storing in silver containers, it kills microbe of the nasty sort. Settlers of the West in the USA placed silver coins in their canteens to purify the water. Silver has no toxic properties and was the dominant anti microbial up until the invention of Penicillin. Silver is still used in dressings for burn victims and topical wounds. Silver kills bacteria, fungi and yeast forms.

There you have it.........now platinum, platinum is beginning to be used in all sorts of cancer therapies, but that’s another story!!

"The FDA does not consider colloidal silver safe or effective to treat any disease or condition. In fact, taking it could have serious side effects, such as Argyria, which is an irreversible blue-gray discoloration of your skin, nails and gums, seizures and other neurological problems or Kidney damage."

16
posted on 03/26/2008 7:55:35 PM PDT
by LucyT
(Sixteen years and four election cycles later, Hillary’s still here.)

The tests showed 99.9 percent kill rates within two hours against the leading antibiotic-resistant bacteria now plaguing hospitals, said Harold T. Michels, senior vice president for technology and technical services at the trade group.

With insurance companies balking at paying for diseases caused by hospital stays - this solution has legs...

Argyria isn't caused by the Silver, but by impurities in the water when folks make their own, and don't filter before drinking it.

Silver is often maligned because of the slang term for Mercury - Quicksilver, and it's use in Dental fillings - Silver-Zinc-Mercury Amalgam.

Also, I've seen some make your own CS sites for plants that used silver coins for the electrodes. Silver coinage for the most part is 90% Silver and 10% Copper. If one were to drink that, it could very easily cause the other problems you sited, as Copper is toxic to humans in more than trace amounts.

Silver has a long history of medical use, before Coal and Petroleum derived antibiotics, it was commonly used to cure many bacterial and fungal infections. It is still used in newborn's eyes after exposure to bacteria in the birth canal, in bandages for burn victims, to purify water, etc. It's still used in plate and Silverware, Jewellry, as well, wouldn't think that would be true if it were so toxic.

I've used CS for about 7 years now. I know folks that have used it for more than 20 years. None of them are gray, blue, or neurotic. If it was going to affect me or them, in any of those ways, it would have shown up by now, don't you think?

Do you eat Apples, BTW?

38
posted on 03/27/2008 9:21:52 AM PDT
by PeaceBeWithYou
(De Oppresso Liber! (50 million and counting in Afganistan and Iraq))

I had carboplatin and taxol - I believe the carboplatin was platinum based. But I found that your body will accept only so much of the platinum. My second bout with lung cancer, they used the carboplatin and I had an extreme anaphylactic (I think) reaction. My nurse daughter tells me that once you reach the saturation point, you can never take it again.

Carolyn

40
posted on 03/27/2008 12:34:12 PM PDT
by CDHart
("It's too late to work within the system and too early to shoot the b@#$%^&s."--Claire Wolfe)

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